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CALGARY
FLAMES TRAINING CAMP
ITINERARY
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AP Photo |
| All Aboard! Brent Krahn is travelling much further than down the hall tomorrow. |
Training Camp Notes
Flames Cut 11, Pare Roster Down to 34
September 24th, 2002
The Calgary Flames pared down their training camp roster by 11 bodies on Tuesday, moving the camp's total to a much more manageable 34 healthy players (prospect Shaun Sutter is out with a sports hernia).
There wasn't a single surprise in today's announcement, save the destination of junior goaltander Brent Krahn, who has a stop in Saint John in his itinerary, not a move down the hall to the Hitmen.
Joining Krahn for the eastern voyage are defencemen Mike Martin, Rick Mrozik and Jan Vodrazka, forwards Matt Doman, Jason Morgan, Ryan Shmyr and Darcy Verot and goaltender Danny Sabourin.
David Hajek was returned to Europe and winger Mike Sgroi was released outright.
Tough Guy Battle
Ryan Shmyr's demotion to Saint John made it clear that the 6'6" former junior B goaltender was the organizations' choice for a minor league thug over Sgroi.
The two fought twice in training camp and each got a look in the club's two preseason games.
Goalie Controversy?
Not in Calgary, where Jamie McLennan is almost assured the job of backstopping starter Roman Turek, but with Brent Krahn's plane ticket purchase, the Flames are creating some intrigue in the minor ranks.
The pre-camp allotment of players saw Krahn with the Hitmen, and Danny Sabourin backing up Levente Szuper in Saint John. With Krahn moving east it's interesting to speculate if things have changed. Has Krahn shown enough to challenge for an AHL spot this season? Or ... are the Flames just giving Krahn a further growth opportunity until Szuper inevitably gets cut in Calgary?
The Rest
With the roster down to 34 players, only 11 more cuts need to be made before opening night in Saint John. Those cuts need to come from the following positions;
Goal - The Flames still have three goalies in camp. Levente Szuper will likely get a look in two more exhibition games before making his way to Saint John.
Defence - There are nine defencemen still competing for jobs, with five of those sitting as nine clear incumbents. The other four players; Petr Buzek, Jordan Leopold, Micki Dupont and Steve Montador all competing for two NHL spots. Petr Buzek is a virtual lock, but the seventh man is clearly up in the air.
Forwards - The real battle shakes down the forward ranks where 22 players have to be pared down to 14 within 14 days. It won't be easy. Players still on the roster that would amount to somewhat of a surprise at this point include; center Mathew Lombardi, left wing Robert Dome, who has been brutal in camp, and left wing Oleg Saprykin, who looks to have bounced back from a terrible training camp last season.
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